As I consider the Madison Chamber's ambitious goal to boost sales more than 50%, and as I read the I-29 Corridor regional development stategy, I find an article that suggests a route for industrial recruitment that could support both local and regional economic growth goals. Christopher Chung, CEO of the statewide economic development group Missouri Partnership, boasts of Missouri's success in attracting the data storage industry.
Chung lists four big data-center fish his state has snagged in the last couple years, including Emerson Electric's $50-million, 35,000-square foot data center in St. Louis that includes a 7800-squaere-foot solar array, the largest solar array in Missouri.
How do you get companies to move their data centers to your state? Chung cites these factors:
- Low cost of doing business
- Guaranteed connectivity
- Low risk of disaster
- Tech-savvy workforce
How many of those criteria can South Dakota meet? Governor Daugaard will tell you we've got cost of doing business in the bag. But note that, while low taxes may sound appealing, for data centers, Chung quotes one Missouri exec who says, "The biggest draw to Missouri is the price of power here." Data centers need electricity, and as Emerson Electric shows, they're willing to rely on renewables to get it. Jerry Heckenliable may have a point: if Madison's electric rates keep outpacing rural rates, we'll dull our other advantages for drawing high-paying tech firms to town.
Guaranteed connectivity shouldn't be a problem. We have fiber-optic cable running up and down the I-29 corridor. Now if Verizon can just keep everyone in touch with iPhones....
South Dakota ought to be at least as safe from disaster as Missouri. Chung brags about the availability of subterranean sites in Missouri... so how about the Homestake Mine? If NSF funding for the Sanford Underground Lab falls through, let's take advantage of the information infrastructure already built and drop a few thousand servers down that mine. How's that for data security?
South Dakota is safer from terrorist attack than Missouri, given the absence of a hub airport and sparsity of targets. Our natural disaster rate is at least as low as Missouri's. Plus, we don't sit on the New Madrid Seismic Zone.
Chung touts Missouri's water supply as a plus for massive data center cooling systems. South Dakota may be a little more prone to drought, but during at least half the year, we can cool down any data center just by opening the window. (How's that for positive thinking in cold weather?)
As for tech-savvy workforce, well, I'd like to think that anything Missouri can do, DSU can do better.
I've heard Governor Daugaard say that we can't be everything to every industry when it comes to economic development. But given our advantages in tech expertise, safety, infrastructure, and cost of doing business, data centers can be an area in which South Dakota carves itself an economic niche. Keep those electric rates down and build more sustainable local green power, and data storage could be South Dakota's next big cash cow.
Check out Scott Sandal's company Datavator out of Yankton. http://thedatavator.com/
He's working hard to make South Dakota a leader in the data storage area! (And he's an active Farmers Union member, which is even better!)